Last Minute Jockeying

Over the past 24 hours, a few things have come a little clearer into focus but tonight will be the tell-tale move for teams trying to put in that last push for a better seed.

There are some very good games around Section Two for the last night of the season. Usually it is a handful of teams wishing they weren’t playing because of the prime scouting opportunity this provides all of their potential opponents, but I think there are enough teams playing tonight that you can’t get out to everything, and since there is some stuff still up in the air, some teams still do not know who they are going to play, so getting out there is a crapshoot.

Here are some of the prime games tonight:

1. Argyle vs. Lake George for the Adirondack Girls and Boys title tonight at Adirondack Community College. The games will tip at 6 for the girls, with the boys to follow. These two proud programs have proven to be the best in both boys and girls this season and there are #1 seeds out there for the winner of this game. On the boys side, where I am most familiar, the Argyle Scots are one game back of the LG Warriors and tonight would forge the split and earn them most likely the #1 seed in Class C, because a win in the final game of the year would be more significant if teams have equal records. Also, this is the quintessential championship game for the league so that status is huge considering this season both teams are competing for position in the Class C standings. To the victors go the spoils, and in Class C it may mean a bye on opening night of the tournament if just 15 schools are going.

2. Albany @ CBA won’t win anyone any titles and with Troy’s win over Schenectady last night, won’t even propel Albany to the Big 10 #2, thanks to their 0-2 record non-league, while Troy is 2-0, but this is a pride game and the Falcons are one of, if not, the most dangerous team going into the Class AA tournament because they are supremely confident right now in their ability to get after it and create points off their defense. With an athletic lineup that seems to come at you in waves, the once-proud Falcons are trying to return the program to the days of yore, when kids like Johnny Ray Wall, Elander Lewis, Corey Dace, James Johnson, Decky Lawson, Russell Johnson, Devonaire Deas and Lee Jones graced their hallways. The boys in blue used to run that gym on Washington Ave. and roll into any other gym with a menacing and confident swagger. Now, the Falcons have a chance to bring that magic back and although CBA moved 15 miles away, these long-time city neighbors have a chance to setup a big matchup to put Albany back on the map. CBA, has taken care of all comers thus far and the question is, should tonight be any different?

3. Cairo @ Catskill will determine the Patroon Conference Championship once and for all. Catskill is riding high right now as the Cats own a head-to-head win in their pocket and have just one league loss. The worst they can do is a tie, but Cairo’s boys play for an underrated basketball mastermind named Bob Piano, a former NYC schoolboy star, who inspires his kids to work extremely hard on defense and force their opponents to earn every point they get and in some cases, he can virtually shut your team down with his pressure D. The Mustangs only lost by one point last week in the first meeting between these teams and there is no reason to think this one will be a big point differential either. I can’t help but think that Cairo has more to play for as a win here could propel them all the way to a #2 seed in tomorrow’s meeting. The loser of this game, won’t drop too far, most likely to a #4 but still that is significant considering Tamarac is playing in the sectionals and that could be the difference between a scout night bye or a home sectional game with an opponent. I am not sure if the #4 will get a bye yet in Class BB.

4. Mohonasen @ Columbia is going to be a good one. The Mighty Warriors have a chance to forge a co-championship in the Suburban South tonight with a win and that means the world to them because it will earn them, potentially, the #2 seed while a loss should drop them to a #3. The prize in Class A for getting the #3 seed, in my opinion, may be a matchup with Bishop Gibbons who most teams don’t want. A #2 seed could get them also, but I doubt it. Mohon probably isn’t thinking this way because they have a tough-minded coach who would play anyone they put in front of him and those kids are not scared of NDBG. Sure, they lost over Christmas to break to them on their own floor, but it was a nailbiter. For Columbia, this game could be very important. No league titles will go into their trophy case, but a victory could propel them one spot in the seedings as teams like Guilderland are making strong moves into the playoffs. If Guilderland beats Bethlehem tonight, you may see the Dutch take Columbia’s seed. Since things are still up for grabs, and certainly now that Academy is in the mix, these games tonight will tell where these teams will fall and should be great games to go to on the last night of the regular season.

5. Schuylerville @ Cohoes should be a good game for area fans and extremely important for Class BB seeding purposes because the Tigers have won some key games this season and with a Harbin system, should get a good seed. Schuylerville literally has not won a non-leaguer this year and most likely will get the bottom of the league championship seeds, a #3. The problem is, they may have to rematch Cohoes in a week. The best scenario for Cohoes is a win to try and claim their rightful place at the #5 spot over Saratoga Catholic who lacks a signature victory. A Schuylerville win won’t do much to change their position, but it may change Cohoes to a #7 depending on how they seed Hudson and of course Green Tech, who are an independent. For Class BB fans, this will be a great game to watch as it will feel like a sectional game and features two of the top teams in the tournament, two that if they avoid each other in the bracketing, could square off for a patch in a few weeks.

27 Responses

You have a great blog, I read it all the time. But if Spa Catholic’s win at State Ranked Fort Plain to claim co league champ when Spa did not have their starting center is not a “signature win” I dont know what is. That game was like being at the championship game in the movie Hoosiers for anyone who was there that night.

I certainly don’t understand all the nuances & complexity to the Section II seeding, but I do have a question. Even if Columbia loses to Mohon tonight – How could Guilderland be seeded over Columbia when they have a worse record & Columbia beat them TWICE !

Hi there, You really should mention the WAC championship between Ft Plain and SC at FMCC. If Fort Plain wins it would make a good argument for the #1 seed in the C’s… They would only have 2 losses on the season, both to larger schools… You never seem to give the WAC much love, however Ft Plain deserves some here, you are giving all the credit to Lake George and Argyle, do not discount Ft Plain who has a good argument for the #1 seed if they win tonight!!

Man I don’t know if any team has been as primed to give CBA a run as Albany tonight. They could be the hottest AA team right now and it will be interesting to see what happens. Probably the biggest game of the night for seeding AA is Mohon and Columbia. Mohon playing for a championship, seeding, and Columbia playing for an 11-7 overall record. Don’t be surprised if Columbia wins and Academy drops to the 5 as you had projected. Academy at Albany with the winner playing Shen? Are you kidding me? A killer bracket draw for all three teams. I think you’re going to wind up seeing the strength of the Suburban Council keep Academy out of the 4 spot which is where I’d rather see them seeded (and is probably much fairer).

I wouldn’t project a Guilderland win tonight, but if they pull it off, don’t be surprised if Academy falls yet another spot to the 6.

BTW, off topic for a sec, but I told you Green Tech was headed to AA even if it’s not for the ’09-’10 hoop season.

justafan: I agree that is a game worth mentioning but it does not have major seeding implications. Two tough teams yes, but Fonda cannot move out of the 4 spot and BP is set. A Class B win won’t vault them anywhere.

baller: great stuff as usual

wac fan: I have spoken about the WAC alot and have given great respect to SC and FP all season. If LG loses tonight, they will not drop to a 3. Fort Plain is the 3 unless LG wins, in that case if FP wins, they may reward them with the #2 and give Argyle #3. Greenwich is set at #4.

yeah: League titles are always rewarded at the top. Its the way they do it around here.

DC – Beating an opponent twice has nothing to do with the Suburban seeding. It would in a tiebreaker situation, but each team is awarded 1 point for a win in their division and 2 points out of division. Based on the wins Columbia has accumulated, I don’t see any way that Guilderland could surpass them regardless of what happens tonight. Columbia looks to be the 4 seed. I didn’t look at all possibilities, but Guilderland may be playing for seeding vs. teams like ‘Toga and Nisky based on the points each have accumulated. Weird system, I know.

thank you for mentioning the biggest game tonight, the one with patroon title implications. the last two games these rivals have played have been decided by 1 point including the first round sectional game so it will be interesting to see if the mustangs can avenge the previous two defeats

Baller, I cannot see AA falling to 5 or even 6. I know they are 9-9 but I think the committee with reward them for a 9-9 season vs a tough schedule over a 11-7 Columbia team. I see seeding in the Suburban like this:

Are you sure that Mohon will win Suburban South if they win tonight and Beth. wins tonight. There was supposedly talk at a Suburban meeting last night that if they end up tied, Beth wins the tie breaker. I have no idea what the tie breaker is, so this is hearsay. If it is based on the Suburban point system, I would guess Beth would win since they beat their third loss was a 1 pt loss to Columbia, while Mohon’s third loss was a 2 pt. loss to Shaker, I believe.

If the tie breaker is head to head (split) and then record in your Division, it would go to Mohon as they have one more win in Division.

Allegedly, there is some other piece of criteria, but I dont know what that is.

I’m with you. I think AA should be 4, not only because of the schedule, but because I think they are frankly better than Columbia, and I think it balances the whole bracket. Making them a 5 gives CBA a cake walk and the other side is brutal (Shen, Albany, Academy, Shaker, Troy). I just don’t think you are going to see it happen. More than likely Academy will be fighting with Guilderland than Columbia. I think Columbia has them clear at this point. No way they give Academy a home game in my opinion. They make them go on the road and battle it out with Albany.

Hey Eric, Just for the record I am not from Ft Plain, just have seen a lot of them this year, and have a healthy respect for their team. I did go and see them dismantle SC for the league title tonight though. yes league title!! I guess everyone is set to give LG the #1 seed, but lets see if Chad thinks Ft Plain is a 3 seed after seeing them tonight. Makes it interesting anyways, may the best team win, always, good luck to all in the sectionals…….

Fort Plain has good reason to be proud of its’ Boys team last night after a very well executed and gritty performance. They should do well in the sectional tournament. They play hard and Baker had a great game . They hit shots and rebounded well. The true spirit of the game of basketball was on display last night at FMCC.

Having complimented their team, the same cannot be said of a portion of their fan base. FP had a section of grown adults taunting and razzing some SC Elementary-age kids. It was completely inappropriate for middle-aged adults to berate young kids. At least one adult in the section asked them to stop and they didn’t. One FP fan, even stooped so low as to drop the “N” word to one of the black SC students during his tirade.

Fort Plain has every reason to be proud of their team, however a number of their fans ought to be ashamed of themselves this morning. One has to wonder what goes through the minds of fans who would behave in such a way. That has absolutely no place at any sporting event, especially in High School. I only wish they would realize how they made those kids feel and had the guts to offer those they offended and abused the apology they rightly deserve. Maybe a remedial course for appropriate fan behaviour would help.

its funny that sc is the first seed regarless if they arw 18-0, they play in the WAC, literally the conference is wack. Thye play all c and d schools n are a BB, they should be a 4 or 5. 2 years ago fonda went 20-0, what did they do? lost to BP by 25, and cairo shud be higher then catskill, had the first game won and just beat them, they shud be he 2, schylervile 3. catskill 4, cohoes 5, spa cath 6. bp 7, hudson 8. g tech 9, cobleskill 10, johnstown 11, and ravens 12

Fonda did not lose to BP by 25, they lost by like five points, all on free throws and BP went on to destroy an overrated Schuylerville team in the championship game. The championship should have been Fonda and BP, at least they challenged BP, Schuylerville did not have a chance in 2009.

Could someone please change the record for Waterford. They did win a game against Berlin which was a Holiday tournament. It doesn’t count towards the league standings. Waterford has one more game than everyone else.

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